Dietary or essential minerals are chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen which are ubiquitous in organic molecules. They can be either bulk minerals (required in relatively large amounts) or trace minerals (required only in very small amounts).
These can be naturally occurring in food or added in elemental or mineral form, such as calcium carbonate or sodium chloride. Some of these additives come from natural sources such as ground oyster shells. Sometimes minerals are added to the diet separately from food, as vitamin and mineral supplements. Appropriate intake levels of each dietary mineral must be sustained to maintain physical health.
In Human nutrition, the dietary bulk mineral elements (RDA >200 mg/day) are calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulphur.
The most important trace mineral elements (RDA <200 mg/day) are chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, and zinc.
Many other minerals have been suggested as required in human nutrition, in varying quantities, such as bismuth, boron, nickel, rubidium, silicon, strontium, tellurium, titanium, tungsten, and vanadium.
A large body of research suggests that humans often can benefit from mineral supplementation. Metals, like iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium and calcium are essential minerals.
Edible emulsions are used in a variety of ways, e.g. spreadable products, frying products, baking ingredients, drinks, diary type products. They are therefore suitable vehicles for incorporation of minerals.
Unfortunately many of these minerals have a bitter taste or metallic taste and the amount of the minerals needed in food products to fortify in order to obtain a beneficial effect from it gives the food product an off-taste which is not liked by consumers. Sometimes the mineral interacts with another ingredient in a food product which results in an unpleasant taste. Fat oxidation is a well-known example giving an unpleasant off-taste.
One option is to encapsulate the minerals, like in multi-vitamin and -mineral pills to prevent the contact of the mineral with the mouth or other ingredients. A drawback of the encapsulation is that a suitable encapsulate should be found that works well in the food product. In addition, the encapsulate needs to release the mineral at a certain time after consumption such that the mineral is available to the human body. Another drawback is that encapsulates are often more expensive than the bare ingredient it self.
Another way of masking the bad taste of mineral is to add another taste that overtakes the bitter taste. However often a lot of the masking taste should be added to mask the undesired taste and not much flexibility in taste is left, and another strong taste is left, which leaves out neutral tasting food products.
German patent DD 238 720 describes stable food emulsion, both fat- and water-continuous, such as mayonnaise and margarine, with a stabilised interphase. The stabilisation of the interphase of the water and fat phase is obtained by the addition of multivalent cations. The multivalent cations may added while an emulsion is made or thereafter. The examples show addition of the cation in either the water-phase (example 1), so before an emulsion is made, and postdosing the cation in a water-continuous emulsion (example 2-4). No disclosure is made of adding cations in a fat-continuous emulsion.
European patent application EP 1 810 658 discloses cosmetic compositions comprising dispersed aqueous colloidal particles from charged minerals. The composition may be amongst others a gel, aqueous, oily or an emulsion, either water-continuous or fat-continuous. The examples disclose postdosing the colloidal mineral containing particles into a water-continuous emulsion. No disclosure is made of postdosing the colloidal mineral containing particles in a fat-continuous emulsion.
WO03/034832 discloses edible water-in-oil emulsions with calcium. The calcium is dosed in the water phase.
EP 0 914 779 discloses protein containing acidic foods and drinks. The foods and drinks are water-continuous emulsions with a fat content of 0.1-10 wt %. Electrolytes may be added to the emulsion after the emulsion is made.
WO2005/102065 discloses a process for manufacturing a thermo-resistant, thermo-irreversible gel. The final texture of the gel is fixed by adding salt into it.
It is therefore an object of the current invention to provide a food product which comprises a mineral wherein the undesired taste of the mineral is not noticed by consumers. Another object of the invention is to provide a food product which is stable under storage at ambient and higher temperatures. Further food products with good organoleptic properties are envisioned with the current invention. Another object is to provide a food product that provides at least a part of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of minerals per serving. Another object of the present invention is to provide a food product that provides at least a part of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of minerals per serving for improved mental health. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a food product that provides at least a part of the recommended daily amount (RDA) of minerals per serving for blood pressure lowering.